MONTICELLO, Ark. — Despite waiting through a 54 minute long lightning delay, the Arkansas Tech football team moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2007 behind a defensive touchdown by senior linebacker Logan Genz and a 17 point effort by the offense in the second half to come away with a 24-17 victory on the road over Arkansas-Monticello Saturday night.
 

The Wonder Boys (3-0, 3-0 Great American Conference) rushed for over 200 yards for the third straight game, running 62 times for 229 yards, and held the Boll Weevils (0-3, 0-3 GAC) to 34 yards on 25 carries, controlling both sides of the line of scrimmage at Convoy Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium. 
 

Four different ball-carriers rushed at least 10 times for Tech, with Brayden Stringer leading the way with 78 yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Arsenio Favor rushed 19 times for 64 yards and his sixth touchdown of the season on the ground, and Kristian Thompson added 54 yards on 11 rushes. Favor also completed 10-of-18 passes for 76 yards and another touchdown.
 

The Wonder Boys defense, which entered the game leading the GAC in total defense once again the unit was stout. The unit only allowed 289 total yards and 10 first downs while forcing five three-and-outs and moving the Weevils backward on three separate drives. The Boll Wevils could only move the ball through the air, passing for 255 yards with 133 of those coming on two big pass plays that led to the only two touchdowns the Weevils would score on the night. 
 

For the second time in three tries this season, the defense got the scoring started for the Wonder Boys. With the Weevils driving on their opening drive of the game, Genz forced a fumble and scooped it up for a 67-yard scamper for a touchdown to make it 7-0 with 11:49 left in the first quarter.

Arkansas-Monticello put together another solid drive on their next possession, but the Tech defense forced three straight incompletions with UAM at the 17 to hold the Weevils to a 34-yard field goal to pull it to 7-3 in the first.
 

From there, both offenses slowed down with no scoring for nearly 27 minutes as the Wonder Boys went into the locker room with a 7-3 lead.

The Weevils opened up the scoring in the second half, converting on a 73-yard touchdown pass just over six minutes into the third quarter, making it a 10-7 ballgame and putting the Wonder Boys behind on the scoreboard for the first time all season.
 

The Tech deficit didn't last long. ATU responded right away, driving 82 yards on 13 plays, capped off by a 7-yard touchdown scamper Favor with 3:41 to go in the third quarter. On the drive, Stringer carried the ball five times for 30 yards.
 

After the Golden Boys' drive stalled to open the fourth quarter, sophomore punter Clayton Watson flipped the field on 79-yard punt that resulted in UAM starting from their own 10. After ATU held the Weevils to a three-and-out, a short punt gave the Wonder Boys the ball at the UAM 28-yard line. Favor took advantage of the short field, putting together back-to-back rushes of 12 and 10 yards. Two plays later, he found Luke Starks on a nine-yard scoring strike to make it 21-10 with 10:37 to play.
 

On the Wonder Boys ensuing drive, sophomore kicker Eric Perez nailed a 49-yard field goal — the fifth-longest in Tech history — stretching the Tech lead to 24-10 with 5:40 to go. With the UAM offense starting to reach desperation time, the Tech defense stepped up once again. After a pass interference penalty extended the drive and put the Weevils in Tech territory, the Wonder Boys forced four straight incompletions to keep their 14-point lead.
 

Tech tried to put the game away on a fourth and one, but Favor was stuffed at the line of scrimmage and UAM got the ball back near midfield. The Weevils provided some drama with a 60-yard pass down to the Tech 3-yard line three plays before a 14-yard touchdown pass made it 24-17 with just 19 seconds left. UAM made it even more interesting by recovering the ensuing onside kick, but an illegal formation penalty forced a re-kick, which skipped innocently out of bounds allowing the Wonder Boys to come away with the victory.
 

Cross finished the night with three catches for 48 yards, while Michael Perry grabbed four passes for 18 yards. Defensively, Genz led the way with six stops, four solo, with one for a loss to go with his big fumble return. Cua' Rose made five solo tackles and the Wonder Boys' lone sack, while also breaking up two passes. Trevon Gooden had four tackles, one for a loss, and two breakups, while Jaquirous Jackson tallied four solo stops.

The win was the 14th in the last 18 tries against the Weevils and was the sixth time in the past eight meetings that the game was decided by seven points or fewer.

With the win, Tech will return home to face Southern Arkansas at Thone Stadium and Buerkle Field with the game slated for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

-FIGHTON-